http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/14429330.htm

Police say counterfeit ring busted
Equipment was used to make Social Security cards, investigators say
AIMEE JUAREZ
ajuarez@charlotteobserver.com

A three-month investigation turned up equipment used to make fake Social Security cards and residency documents, Gastonia police said Tuesday.

And the arrest on Tuesday of two men connected to the case could lead to the deportation of at least six others, Gastonia police said.

A tip about the creation of fake documents led police to a house on East Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia.

A search of three other homes turned up computers, electronic equipment and other materials used to produce fake documents, police said.

Police arrested Ruben Perez Cardoza, 28, and Leonardo Paz Ortono, 29., both of Gastonia, on drug-related charges, according to a release from the Gastonia Police Department. They are being held at the Gaston County Jail on bonds of $10 million.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers took six others into custody in connection with the case to investigate their residency status. They are Micaela Vera-Tolentino, 26; Jesus Perez Cardoso, 25; Edith Pardo-Savala, 26; Sergio Noriega-Perez, 41; Orlin Noe Castillo-Zapata, 22; and Hector Herminio Vasquez Lozano, 32.

It was unknown Tuesday evening whether the six were also arrested on charges connected to the case.

Authorities believe there may be hundreds of counterfeit mills operating in the region. Federal immigration agents say they arrest a document counterfeiter every few weeks in the Charlotte area.

Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Julie Myers called the buying and selling of counterfeit documents "an epidemic" that has turned into a multimillion-dollar criminal industry.

In the Gastonia investigation, police also recovered 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, two pounds of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, two guns and more than $35,000 cash.

Cardoza, who lived at the Adams Drive address, is charged with five counts of trafficking more than 400 grams of cocaine, five counts of trafficking 200 to 400 grams of cocaine and two counts of felony common-law forgery.

Ortono is charged with five counts of trafficking more than 400 grams, the release stated.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, the State Bureau of Investigation, Mount Holly police and the Gaston County Sheriff's Office assisted with the investigation.

ICE spokesman Temple Black said the federal agency usually places a hold on illegal immigrants who are arrested.

If convicted, they are usually sent back to their country of origin once they serve their sentences.

The case remained under investigation Tuesday.

In such cases, "there's always a potential for more to come out of it," Gastonia Police Sgt. Mike Lari said.

-- Staff writer Franco Ordoņez contributed TO THIS report.

-- Aimee Juarez: (704) 868-7731